A social network service is an online service, platform or site that focuses on building social networks or social relations among people (e.g., those who share interests and/or activities). A social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services are web-based and provide means for users to interact over the Internet, such as by e-mail and instant messaging. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks.
Oftentimes, in social media posts, the user (e.g., individual, corporation) includes a hashtag with the message posted on the social networking site. A hashtag is a word or an unspaced phrase prefixed with the hash character (or number sign), #, to form a label. It is a type of metadata tag. Words or phrases in messages on microblogging and social networking services, such as Facebook®, Google+®, Instagram® and Twitter®, may be tagged by entering # before them, either as they appear in a sentence, e.g., “New artists announced for #SXSW2014 Music Festival” or appended to it.
Users attempt to use the best hashtag to reach the target audience as well as to increase the speed of propagation for the message (i.e., share the message with the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time). If the user selects the wrong hashtag, the message may not be shared with as many people as desired (i.e., the propagation speed of the message may be less than desired). Furthermore, if the user selects the wrong hashtag, the message may be grouped with people discussing the message negatively which may not be the intention of the user composing the message. For example, if a company is attempting to promote a new product in their message, it would be desirable to utilize a hashtag that is aligned with other posts that have a shared sentiment (attitude, manifestation or emotional feeling of the thought expressed in the message) that will help support the message they are relaying. However, if they choose the wrong hashtag, the post may be grouped with people discussing negative experiences thereby reducing the desired impact of the message.
Currently, there is no means for assisting the user in selecting a hashtag that enhances the desired sentiment of the message as well as increase the speed of propagation for the message.